Sequential frame payline system and games using that system

ABSTRACT

A pay line system has a novel type of pay line that can be provided in a variety of different display systems, including at least 3×3 reel-type displays, 3×4, 4×3, 3×5, 5×3, 4×5 and 5×4 displays. The pay lines are preferably displayed on 3×5 or 5×3 window formats and comprise a predetermined number of frames (e.g., at least three or at least four frames) that are in an ordered or sequential adjacent relationship with other frames, there is a winning payline established. The length of a payline is limited only by the total number of frames in the display.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to gaming equipment, especially multi-lineand multicolumn wagering displays, particularly reel-type wageringapparatus and displays, and most particularly to the pay lines that areused on such gaming apparatus and displays.

2. Background of the Art

Gaming apparatus where symbols are randomly displayed and predeterminedsets of symbols are awarded prizes have been used for entertainment forover one hundred years. These types of systems are generally referred toas slot machines or slot-type machines and the like. These machines hadoriginally been limited to their style and format to the availablephysical structures that could be used to provide and display thesymbols, relying primarily upon the mathematical relationships of a)wagering odds/payouts and the b) statistical distribution of symbols tocontrol the amount of awards provided to players.

Even prior to 1900, machines were available with three reels withsymbols provided on each reel at various positions where the reel wasallowed to stop spinning (referred to as “stop positions” in the art),rotating pointers that would identify symbols or awards, rotating racksof cards that would display one card in each of five windows (much likethe original “digital” clocks with each number on a panel), cash machinedisplays where cards would pop-up just as sales amounts would pop-up ina cash register and spinning wheels that would stop at a pointer. Theclassic slot machine format of three axially aligned reels havingmultiple sets of images on each reel became the standard in the industryfor many years and still receives the majority of play in today'scasinos.

The advent of video gaming technology and touch-screens has advanced thetheoretical limits of the types of games and displays that can be usedon gaming apparatus. Initially, there was some resistance to the newervideo format games, except in the venue of poker-type video games. Ithas become lore in the industry that the main reason for this is thatplayers wanted the machines to look and act the same as the old machinesas a matter of trust in the old gaming apparatus and technical inertia.

Video games are widely accepted in the industry across many differentgame styles, from poker games, blackjack, three-reel slots, keno, 3×5slots (three rows and five columns), bonus events on gaming apparatusand the like. The industry has been slow, however, to take advantage ofall the potential opportunities and formats available on gamingapparatus.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,053 describes a series of pay lines for use in videogaming. That invention consists in a gaming machine having display meansarranged to display a plurality of symbols in an array of apredetermined number of rows and columns of symbol locations, gamecontrol means arranged to control images displayed on the display means,the game control means being arranged to pay a prize when apredetermined combination of symbols is displayed on a predeterminedline of symbol locations of the array characterized in that the numberof possible predetermined lines recognized by the control means isgreater than the number of rows plus a number of diagonals of the array,there being at least n+1 lines that use no symbols in at least 1 row,where n is the number of rows.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,999 describes a gaming machine that has a displayand a game controller arranged to control images displayed on thedisplay. The game controller is arranged to play a game wherein at leastone random event is caused to be displayed on the display and, if apredefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize. A matrix ofsymbol positions is displayed on the display and at least one payline isassociated with the matrix. The payline is comprised of an equal numberof symbol positions as there are columns in the matrix but passesthrough fewer than all of the columns. A typical payline is a T-shapedset of contiguous frames or irregularly-shaped set of five frames.

Copending and commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No., filedAugust, 2003 and bearing attorney's docket number 311.010US1 and titled“PAYLINE SYSTEM AND GAMES USING THAT SYSTEM” describes a pay line systemis provided in which at least one pay line does not extend across allcolumns in a gaming display. This type of pay line can be provided in avariety of different display systems, including at least 3×3 reel-typedisplays, 3×4, 4×3, 3×5, 5×3, 4×5 and 5×4 displays. The pay lines arepreferably displayed on 3×5 or 5×3 window formats and comprise“horseshoe” arrays of frames. The horseshoe arrays may be provided withthe horseshoe opening at 0°, 90°, 180°, 270° with respect to vertical onthe screen or with respect to the vertical orientation of a column, andthe horseshoe may have three adjacent frames parallel to three of thefour sides of the rectangular display created by the columns and rows.In a 3×5 display format, this allows for the horseshoe pay lines toprovide twelve new pay lines. These twelve new pay lines may be inaddition to other pay lines or as alternatives to other pay lines. Thepreferred pay line is a series of three lines of equal dimensions (e.g.,three frames along each line) in which only one line is perpendicular totwo lines and only two lines are parallel to each other (forming ahorseshoe or U-shape, or forming an H-shape).

It is still desirable in the industry to provide additional formats andvariations so that manufacturers can offer the player new games tomaintain and stimulate their interest and enjoyment in play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A video gaming display is provided with images in an array of adjacentframes (e.g., in columns and row, especially 3×3, 3×4, and 3×5 columnsand rows) and the individual frames have the potential for an orderedrelationship with respect to other frames. Whenever a predeterminednumber of frames are in an ordered or sequential adjacent relationshipwith other frames, there is a winning payline established. The length ofa payline is limited only by the total number of frames in the display.It is the ordered content of symbols and their adjacency that determineswinning sequences, not mere repetition of the same symbols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a blank 3×5 screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows fifteen consecutive screen shots of a screen according tothe invention as it fills one frame at a time, randomly.

FIG. 3 shows a display screen of video gaming equipment after allfifteen frames have been filled without a winning combination.

FIG. 4 shows the display screen of video gaming equipment after it hasstopped its virtual spin to display a new screen arrangement of symbols.

FIG. 5 shows the display screen of video gaming equipment as aparticular pay line of a sequence of four ordered frames has been foundfor wins and a winning arrangement of symbols is highlighted.

FIG. 6 shows the display screen of video gaming equipment with a winningpay line highlighted with an animation of the actual original frames inthe display showing an ordered sequence of events.

FIG. 7 shows the display screen of video gaming equipment with a numberof frames in a continuous ordered sequence, with a three-run sequenceand a nine-run sequence shown.

FIG. 8 shows a display of two winning sequences of frames, with athree-run sequence and a nine-run sequence shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In addition to game formats, the present invention provides a new formatfor pay lines that can be used on both a mechanical reel slot machineand a video slot machine wagering system. The system may be used on anysize of frame display (e.g., 3×3; 3×4; 4×3; 4×4; 3×5; 5×3; 4×5; and 5×4,but is preferably used in a 3×5 or 5×3 frame array (that is 3 rows and 5columns or five rows and 3 columns). The game may be played with asingle unit wager or multiple units of wagers. With certain game playsor certain levels of wagers, there may be awards that are less then thanthe total wager (including ) up to a portion of the original total wageror a fixed amount), equal to the total wager, and/or greater than thetotal wager.

The symbols selected for a game or games must have some order orsequence or predetermined order of relationships among the symbols. Thesimplest ordering is to have the (e.g., 15) images that are displayed onthe frames (there may be a number of images equal to, less then orgreater than the number of available frames) numbered or subtitled withnumbers, or lettered or subtitled with letters for ease of visualverification of orders or sequences. Other order sequences can bedifferences in sizes among the images (from larger to smaller; smallerto larger; the well-known artistic rendition of the small fish gettingeaten by a larger fish which is in turn eaten by a still larger fish, orother food chain progression); differences in colors (e.g., variationsfrom the rainbow going in shades and tones from red, orange, yellow,green, blue indigo and violet; moving from black-to-white throughvarious shades of grey or vice versa); a series of images morphing fromone shape to another (e.g., a circle morphing to a square, withapproximately thirteen or other number of intermediate images which mayalso contain color variations to assist in distinguishing amongst anddefining the order; Dr. Jekyll morphing to Mr. Hyde, or Lon Chaneymorphing to a werewolf); and scenes from a story, such as Sisyphusseeing a rock at the bottom of a hill and pushing it up the hill; aprogressing scene from a movie or clip; an artistic rendering of a comicbook sequence; or any other still screen clip images in a discerniblesequence. Any series of frames that can be provided in a fixed order orsequence of events can be used as the images, with the proper order orsequence available for display in a help screen or on a panel on thescreen or on a belly board or sheet attached to the machine.

The games of the present invention and the pay lines of the presentinvention may be played on mechanical reels or video displays. Thevisual display may be any image display system, by way of non-limitingexamples being CRT displays, plasma displays, Liquid Crystal displays,LED displays, and any other digital or analog display system. Theprocessor system used in the present invention may be a unique gamesynthesized processor (hardware and software), or the wide range ofcommercially available and modifiable hardware and software systems onthe market (by way of non-limiting examples, PC-based hardware andsoftware, MAC-based hardware and software, LINUX systems, UNIX systems,and any other hardware and software and processors) may be used. Playercontrols may include buttons, touch-screens, mouse, joy stick, lightrod, voice control, roller ball, throttle or any other user interfaceuser-active control known to the computer industry.

The systems of the invention may use value in the play of the gamesderived from coins, currency, credit cards, ticket-in/ticket-outsystems, player control cards, central computerized record systems, orany other acceptable source of value. Various in-machine andmachine-external security systems may be available with the systems ofthe invention such as bio-recognition systems (by way of non-limitingexamples, facial recognition, retinal scans, voice recognition,fingerprints, etc.), validation and verification software and hardwarefor the transmission of data, security cameras, security personnel andthe like.

The actual use of the pay lines of the invention in the play of wageringgames is further enabled and described by reference to the Figures.Although the examples in the Figures use the preferred mode of a visualdisplay, almost of the features in that play can be mechanicallyreproduced in a mechanical reel system, with halo or highlight effectsbeing provided by lighting arrangements or a teleprompter panel orliquid crystal panel over the mechanical reels.

FIG. 1 shows a monitor 2 having a blank 3×5 screen 4 according to thepresent invention. There are fifteen frames (10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22,24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38) shown on the screen 4. All fifteenindividual frames 6 are shown, as are a line of user input buttons ortouch screen panels 8.

FIG. 2 shows fifteen consecutive screen shots (A B C D E F G H I J K L MN and O) of screens according to the invention as it fills one frame ata time, randomly, until all frames are filled as in image O.

FIG. 3 shows a display screen 4 of video gaming equipment after allfifteen frames 6 have been filled without a winning combination. Apaytable is shown to the right of the screen.

FIG. 4 shows the display screen 4 of video gaming equipment 2 after ithas stopped its virtual spin to display a new screen arrangement ofsymbols 6.

FIG. 5 shows the display screen 4 of video gaming equipment 2 as aparticular pay line of a sequence of four ordered frames has been foundfor wins and a winning arrangement of symbols is highlighted 100.

FIG. 6 shows the display screen 4 of video gaming equipment 2 with awinning pay line highlighted 100 with an animation of the actualoriginal frames in the display showing an ordered sequence of events110. In this figure, the ordered sequence of events 110 is shown as amoving picture, shadow, halo or phantom image over the individual frames6 of the game display.

FIG. 7 shows the display screen 4 of video gaming equipment 2 with anumber of frames (frame images 10, 11 and 12) 100 in a continuousordered sequence. A bonus pay event of a popping champagne cork is shownin frame 36, which may also be a scatter bonus event, without specificordered combinations of frames and symbols required.

FIG. 8 shows a display of two winning sequences of frames, with athree-run sequence (4 5 6) and a nine-run sequence (7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14and 15) shown. Note that the sequence may cross over other lines thatform sequences, may reverse directions, and go up or down. As long aseach frame symbol is adjacent to the last frame symbol in the orderevaluated, the symbols are available for determination if they are insequence. Where a wild symbol is available, the wild symbol may operateunder various rules or protocols. For example, it may be that a wildsymbol may be used only once in evaluation symbols, or that it may beused only twice, or that it may be used only 3, 4 or unlimited numbersof times. It may also be limited in direction, where a wild symbol or aspecial wild symbol may be used only in a vertical direction, horizontaldirection, up, down, left-to-right, right-to-left, +45 degrees, +135degrees, −45 degrees, or −135 degrees from a positive X-axis in thecenter of a frame. By placing such limitations on the symbols, more wildsymbols may be provided on the screen for the player to see withouthaving to pay out too large of payouts.

A wagering system of the invention may provide symbols and predeterminedarrangements of symbols are used to determine wins or losses along paylines. The system should have at least one pay line of four sequentialframes. It is another aspect of the invention that with a three-symbolsequence, there may be a payout that is less then the initial totalwager. This payout may be limited to larger wagers, so that thecalculation of the payout may be easier. For example, when there arethree units wagered, a 3-symbol sequence may return one unit. When fourunits are wagered, a 3-symbols sequence may return two units to theplayer, and where a 5-unit wager is placed, three units may be returnedto the player. This provides an incentive to playing higher unit wagers,since the return on this less than push wager is 33.3%, 40% and 60%respectively.

A bonus event or challenge event may also be played with the screen asdescribed. For example, after a win, the player may elect to go into achallenge round where the player wagers against various odds that thenext screen will have a sequence of at lest a fixed number. The payoutin the challenge round may be higher then the lower payout rates in theunderlying game, but lower then the payout rate at the higher end ofsymbol sequences. For example, if a run of four frames is 1:1 and run offive frames pays 2:1 in the underlying game, the player may wager all ofhis winnings from a previous game, a portion of his winnings from aprevious game, or his wager amount in the challenge round (after anywin, after at least a win at greater than 1:1 payout, or after apredetermined sequence occurs, such as frames 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12showing a particular scene).

Although many specific examples have been provided in the description ofthe invention, there are options, alternatives and equivalents that havebeen and will be recognized by those skilled in the art with respect toelements of the practice of the invention and it is the intent of thisdescription to include those elements within the scope of the inventionas described and claimed. For example, scatter pay symbols may also beused with the pay lines of the invention, bonus events may be used withthe practice of the invention on the same display, mechanically attacheddisplay, or separate video screen.

1. A wagering system in which symbols are provided and predeterminedsequences of at least a minimum number of adjacent symbols are used todetermine wins or losses along undefined pay lines.
 2. The wageringsystem of claim 1 wherein the system provides a display that comprises a3×5 array of frames.
 3. The wagering system of claim 2 wherein thesystem provides a display that comprises a 3 row×5 column array offrames.
 4. The wagering system of claim 2 wherein the display is a videodisplay.
 5. The wagering system of claim 3 wherein the display is avideo display.
 6. The wagering system of claim 3 wherein the display isa mechanical reel system.
 7. The wagering system of claim 5 wherein atleast one pay line comprises at least four frames that contain asequence of ordered symbols in a continuous line of adjacent symbols. 8.The wagering system of claim 5 wherein at least one pay line comprises athree symbol sequence of ordered symbols that may return less than 1:1on an initial wager.
 9. The wagering system of claim 7 wherein thecontinuous line includes a line that crosses over itself when passingamong at least four adjacent symbols.
 10. The wagering system of claim 1wherein an award is determined according to a paytable in which at leastsome returns on wagers increase as a number of frames increasinglyappear in the sequence.
 11. The wagering system of claim 1 wherein eachsymbol within a winning sequence has a number or letter associated witha frame containing each symbol.
 12. The wagering system of claim 2wherein each symbol within a winning sequence has a number or letterassociated with a frame containing each symbol.
 13. The wagering systemof claim 3 wherein each symbol within a winning sequence has a number orletter associated with a frame containing each symbol.
 14. The wageringsystem of claim 4 wherein each symbol within a winning sequence has anumber or letter associated with a frame containing each symbol.
 15. Thewagering system of claim 5 wherein each symbol within a winning sequencehas a number or letter associated with a frame containing each symbol.16. The wagering system of claim 7 wherein each symbol within a winningsequence has a number or letter associated with a frame containing eachsymbol.
 17. A game event on a video gaming apparatus in which there areno fixed pay lines available for play, but in which any sequence offrames that appear in a predetermined order in a continuous line betweenframes defines a winning event.
 18. The game event of claim 17 whereinan award is determined according to a paytable in which at least somereturns on wagers increase as a number of frames increasingly appear inthe sequence.
 19. The game event of claim 17 wherein the winning eventis for any sequence of the ordered frames that exceeds or equals atleast a minimum number of sequential frames.
 20. The game event of claim17 played as a bonus event.
 21. The game event of claim 18 played as abonus event.
 22. The game event of claim 19 played as a bonus event.